I Loved the Boondock Saints!!! it was pretty much a cult hit and didn't really make it big time when it first came out. I've been keeping up with it and they are making Boondock Saints 2 here very soon. The main characters, the Connor Brothers and El Duce have all signed on and I for one have been chomping at the bit to see this. They keep updates on youtube or send the updates to you if you sign up for the newsletter on their website

[QUOTE]The Molly Maguires...based on a true story of Irish immigrants in the mid 1870's, set and filmed in the anthracite coal region of northeastern Pennsylvania....

One of the men accused and hung was Alexander Campbell. The morning of his hanging, he slapped his muddy hand on his cell wall, declaring that the handprint would remain as a shameful reminder that the county was about to execute an innocent man. To this day, his handprint can be seen on the wall of Cell #17 in the Old Mauch Chunk Prison- despite being washed and painted multiple times. The wall was even torn down and rebuilt, yet the handprint came back.

I live in the region also. This story has me very intrigued. I will have to study more about it. The coal mines are common here. I live near Centralia, PA. That is where the underground coal mine is on fire. They have not come up with a way to put the fire out.

There is a lot of history to do with the coal mines.

The Mauch Chunk Prison was featured on an episode of Ghost Hunters. It was neat to see that hand on the wall. It is eerie how it keeps coming back no matter what is done to it.

If anyone is looking to buy the Scret of Roan Inish it seems to be everywhere now. I picked up a copy for $9 at Barnes and Noble than saw it at both target, Shopko, and Best Buy. Target was the cheapest. Still no sign of it at wal Mart but they have got anch of old Disney movies including Darby O'Gill and the Little Peopl;e for about $9.00

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Unavoidably Detained by the World

"Irishness is not primary a question of birth or blood or language; it is the condition on being involved in the Irish situation, and usually of being mauled by it."-Conor Cruise O'Brien

Since "Devil's Own" was mentioned, I thought about "Blown Away" which has a similar plot: IRA bomber doesn't like that civilians are now being targeted, so through the Irish underground, fakes papers to get a job as a Boston Police bomb expert, However, a fellow IRA bomber learns of his defection and follows him to America where he wages war to bring him out into the open and kill him off. Stars Jeff Bridges, Tommy Lee Jones and Lloyd Bridges.

Some of my favorites:

The Secret of Roan InnishQuiet ManRiver Dance and Feet of Flames (Lord of the Dance was inexpertly filmed and some scenes too dark to make out!)Darby O'Gill and the Little PeopleThree lives of ThomasinaWaking Ned Divine

Masterpiece Theatre did a drama based on the life of "Boudicca" that I have on tape but never watched.

Highlander 1, 3 and the tv series were good, but "Endgame" and "Highlander: Raven" were only so-so and Highlander 2 and "the Source" were beyond BAD, and not in the "it's so bad it's good" category.

Has anyone seen "An Everlasting Piece"? I watched it last night and couldn't stop laughing. If you liked "Waking Ned Devine" and " The Snapper", you'll like this one too!

From Amazon.comIt's hard to believe that a movie about two hairpiece salesmen in war-torn Northern Ireland--a comedy, no less--could work at all, but An Everlasting Piece does work, though perhaps not in the way one would expect. Colm (Barry McEvoy, who also wrote the screenplay) is a new barber at a mental institution and bonds with his fellow barber George (Brian F. O'Byrne) even though Colm is Catholic and George is Protestant. A new patient arrives, who turns out to have been the owner of the only wig company in all of Northern Ireland. Figuring that having a monopoly means easy money, Colm and George convince the new patient to give them his client list, and they're off on a series of rambling comic adventures, aided by Colm's girlfriend Bronagh (Anna Friel, A Midsummer Night's Dream). But when a wig is found at the site of an act of IRA sabotage, the salesmen's lives get suddenly complicated. What makes An Everlasting Piece work is not that it ignores the Irish conflict, but that it pays close attention to it; in fact, the tension of civil strife is a crucial element of the movie's humor, allowing it to dip into a more serious mood without becoming preachy or pretentious. The actors are uniformly excellent; Friel is particularly charming. A comedy about wigs sounds like goofy slapstick; An Everlasting Piece is actually thoughtful and richly human. Directed by Barry Levinson (Diner, Rain Man, Wag the Dog). --Bret Fetzer

The official traile for Shrek 4 is out: This looks to be a vast improvement over the last one. You know, were Merlin is nothing more than an equvilant to Jar Jar BinksStrory line is Shrek meets Rumplstiltskin, makes a wish, and everything that has gone on before is redone in a bad way. Think "it's a wonderful life"Anyway here is the trailer. Poor Puss in Boots.

"When Celtic hero Cúchulainn returns home from exile the war spirit Morrigan seduces him with tragic consequences: forcing him to wage war on war itself.

Buried in the mythic ancient past lies an Ireland divided up by four tribal nations: the original inhabitants and three exotic new peoples swept in on successive waves of immigration in a world as much in flux as the present, co-existing in a perpetual cycle of war and truce. A clash of cultures and ideas as vital as any in our accelerated modern world, their world is over-laid by the mystic, the magical, and the realm of the spirits. Into this world is born Cúchulainn, a semi-divine hero marked out by destiny as the greatest warrior but bound for tragic glory: yet in the brutal tragedy of his life lies the seed of a united island.

When the other three nations, steered by the war spirit Morrigan and led by the malevolent Queen Maeve, invade his homeland to take the prized Brown Bull of Cooley, Cúchulainn returns home early from military training in the Land of Shadows to help his kin. He finds his people struck down by a mysterious sickness, unable to defend themselves, and is forced to make a lone stand against the invaders. Manipulated by the war spirit, Morrigan, Queen Maeve sets her sights on far more than a bull and pits Cús oldest friend  her best champion  against him.

Realising the futility of war after he defeats his friend Cú turns his grief stricken rage on the war spirit herself. He tragically fights fire with fire, and when that fails he chooses sacrifice over surrender. It is the only way to ensure the war spirit can never use his power against mankind again."

Film Details:

"The style and look of the film will be a mix of live action and CG animation enhanced imagery. Seeking to use visual innovations as portrayed in recent films like 300, Pans Labyrinth and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Cuchulainn will not ape these movies but will seek to use similar techniques to find a unique vision or window into the world of Celtic mythology.

The main characters will be actors while the world of ERIN will be created digitally, where actual locations do not offer the look or space needed.

The intent is to bring to the screen a seamless marriage of reality and dreams so authentic that we do not question the place, but instead revel in the romance, adventure and vitality of its story and characters."

I just picked up the "Secret of Kells" from Best Buy. My only regrets are that is wasn't available on blue ray there and I don't a a huge TV screen to watch this on. This is an amazing annimated movie which has won several awards. The trailers on youtube do not do it justice. All of the artwork is based on Celtic art and I would highly recommend this movie for both adults and kids. The Vikings could possibly be a little scary for the wee ones. Boy do I wish this one would have been in 3D. But yes, go buy it, get it before it disappears, now!